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'We'll Pitch In': Storm Brings Out The Best In Twin Cities Snow Heroes

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Snow, as we've come to know up north, is inevitable -- and just as predictable as a flurry of flakes is the selflessness that follows them.

The Twin Cities got hit with roughly a foot of snow Monday. Doug Stepanek used the snow blower on his driveway first, then made his way to his neighbor's house, who is on vacation.

"Paul's a good friend of mine, yeah, I'd do anything for him," Stepanek said. "I saw a lady down here, she was shoveling. I was thinking about heading, maybe, down there, if she's not done by the time I finish up here."

That desire to help strangers swarmed Lyndale Avenue near the Walker Art Center Monday, as packs of people pushed cars up the slippery hill.

"I got a really great workout," joked Julia Curran, who stands just under five feet tall. "I mean, I am strong."

She's also strong-willed. Curran spent a couple hours lending a hand along Lyndale Avenue, preferring to push the cars with her hands just inside the passenger side window to make sure she avoided damaging the mirror. She said up to 25 people stopped to help others. Some were drivers themselves who at one point were stuck.

Surprisingly, she described the experience as fun.

"There were people coming with groups of friends, or who had passed by on the bus and saw that help was needed, and walk back," she said.

Drivers got a lift while Curran got fulfillment.

"It builds a sense of community. It gives you nice memories when you're walking by what is otherwise and kind of miserable street," she said.

Her story doesn't surprise fellow Minnesotans.

"If someone needs help we'll pitch in," said homeowner Alex Balint as he shoveled his driveway in Golden Valley.

Helping others was bound to happen, just like the storm that started it.

"It's kind of the same old routine every time it snows, every winter," said Balint.

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